Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn, Ann Dusenberry, Stephen Elliott
• Directors: Ivan Passer
• Writers: Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, Newton Thornburg
• Producers: Barrie M. Osborne, Larry J. Franco, Paul R. Gurian
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• VHS Release Date: June 25, 1991
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301966368
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343,714 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

This Ivan Passer movie--a marvel of dark, brooding cinema--almost didn't make it into theaters. The film was nearly dumped by its studio because its pessimistic story seemed too downbeat. Which, in fact, is part of the appeal: the way it gets to the heart of a group of people who have given up, but then find something that motivates them to go on. In this case, it's greed: Cutter (Jeff Bridges), a burnt-out gigolo, and his pal Bone (John Heard), a disfigured Vietnam veteran, get involved in a plot involving corruption and murder. Bone has proof that a powerful businessman is behind the killing and wants to be paid off to keep quiet; instead he buys them more trouble than he can imagine. Bridges, as always, is superb--and Heard is downright scary. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an engrossing murder mystery, June 20, 2003

By 

Cubist (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cutter's Way (DVD)

When Cutter's Way was first released in theatres in 1981, it tanked at the box office thanks to bad press from The New York Times and a nervous studio still smarting from the bath it took on Heaven's Gate. A good film almost disappeared from sight. Fortunately, the advent of video, and now its debut on DVD, has given this unusual film a second chance that it so richly deserves.

Jeff Bridges proves once again that he is one of the best American actors working in film today. He portrays Bone as a man afraid of commitment, content to do little, but fall back on his pretty boy looks to bed any woman who crosses his path. As one character tells him, "Sooner or later you're going to have to make a decision about something." This could be the underlying thesis of the whole film: making decisions, taking a stand about something.

John Heard's Alex Cutter is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He desperately wants to get involved in something, anything to stop living life in a bottle of alcohol. And so, he latches on to the murder mystery with the ferocious tenacity of a pitbull. Heard plays Cutter like a character straight out of a Tom Waits song. His performance, complete with raspy voice and cynical outlook on life, recalls many of Waits' down-on-their-luck losers that populate his songs.

The actors vividly breathe life into their respective characters creating the impression that they exist beyond what we see on the screen, that in some way we already know them and that they'll continue to exist after the film ends.

Director Ivan Passer also deserves credit for creating this world. From the haunting opening shot of a parade, caught in dreamy slow motion (thanks to Jordan Cronenweth's superb cinematography), filmed at first in black and white and then as the credits fade in and out it gradually becomes colour, Passer draws the audience into his absorbing drama. Cutter's Way contains strong visuals to contrast the ambiguous story. Nothing is spelled out for the audience, even right up to its conclusion. Do we support Cutter's obsessive conspiracy theories or Bone's refusal to get involved?

Following in the grand tradition of short changing this movie, MGM has decided to include only the theatrical trailer on the DVD. What about a retrospective featurette? All the principals are still alive and I'm sure would love to talk about this movie. Or an audio commentary? Jeff Bridges contributed an excellent one on the Against All Odds DVD so he's hip to the format. A lot of missed opportunities here.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cutter's Way, April 23, 2000

By 

Joseph B Murray (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cutter's Way [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Stumbled across this movie by chance.All three leads are superb, giving the kind of charismatic, heroic, complex performances you so rarely see in Hollywood these days; the direction is deceptively simple, but subtly poetic and moving - it has the same kind of feel as the best of Milos Forman's American pictures (Cuckoo's Nest etc.), only with it's own gentle power.It's sort of a Film Noir/Character Study/Dropout Movie. Actually, waffling aside, it's just one of those movies you either clutch tightly to your breast after one viewing or aren't really going to care much for. Well, it got me and even though I'd like to think I found it first and it's my little secret, I know that's not true... Anyway, watch and enjoy; it's not perfect, it may not actually be great, but it should stab you in the heart a little, and take you on the kind of quirky, bumpy ride you might just need! Give it a try........

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cutter King, November 20, 2001

By 

"eserhan" (ISTANBUL, ESENTEPE Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cutter's Way (DVD)

The alcoholic, blasphemous and "crippled" Cutter would not please Arnold fans. But for his crowd, he pulls out a heartbreaking display of bravery and follows his paranoia until the very end.

We have seen men like him on screen before, but they lacked the willingless to sacrifice themselves in pursuit of re-gaining self respect and the ability to turn "no-good" bystanders (Bone) in the process.

The off beat pace of the movie, the underacting and its noir tones very successfully dims the gut wrenching drama at play, without affecting the suspense.

The suspense? There is more of it in wondering where the Cutter's relentless path to self-destruction might lead to than in solving the murder mystery at play.

Simply worth watching for John Heard's perfect depiction of Cutter. Bridges (Bone) and Eichhorn are excellent as well.